Live Works, Newcastle, UK

Live Works is a new £10 million scheme to create a vibrant space for public use, commercial space and education. Based on Newcastle’s Quayside, Live Works is part of Live Theatre’s evolving cultural quarter and its mission to engage the community.

The project team was presented with a fantastic opportunity to make a difference and create a cultural hub. The aim was to create a new courtyard for Live with the Children’s Writing Centre and a new outdoor performance space for Live Theatre.

The public space is framed by historic Georgian Alms Houses and Quayside Warehouses as well as our insertion into the Newcastle Quayside.

The new building provides the link between the Quayside and the Public Square with an arcade along Trinity Chare.

The sandstone facade on the Quayside completes the gap in the river frontage. This has been empty for a century.

The main building consists of two floor plates of roughly 220sqm column-free space mirrored across a central core. The courtyard provides Live with an outdoor performance Space, with the proscenium of the stage formed by the courtyard façade of the new building. The stage forms the focal point for the presentation of the work produced by the Children and Young people’s Writing Centre.

The new lighting scheme is both flexible and theatrical, to match the ethos of the entire project.